Maverick

I DIDN’T BOTHER KNOCKING. I stormed straight into the pool house and froze when my eyes landed on her curled up on the couch, arms wrapped tight around herself.

“Lo, what the fuck?” All rational thinking had gone the second I read her message and called her, only to discover her cell phone was switched off. When Kyle couldn’t reach her and Uncle Gentry said she didn’t return home after her shift at Hitters, I’d left Darnell and Jamie at the gym, grabbed my shit, and broke a few speed limits on the way here.

“Were you with her?”

“With who, Lo? Who was I supposed to be with?” I started to pace, my heart hammering against my chest.

What the fuck was she talking about? It had been days since we’d talked properly. And now she was accusing me of what? Being with someone else?

“Liam said...” she wrapped her arms around her body like a blanket. I hated that she felt like she had to put a physical barrier between us. But then I latched onto her words.

“Liam? Who the fuck is Liam?”

“My friend. He works at the—”

“Unbelievable,” I snapped. “You dragged me back here on the word of a guy you’ve known for a few weeks?”

“No, I...” Panic burned in her eyes. “I’m confused. This is confusing, Maverick. You’re at parties with the team and look at you. Every girl on campus wants you, they would be crazy not to. He said—”

“Are you actually listening to yourself right now?” I came to a halt in front of her. “I have tried to be understanding. To give you space and time. But the way I see it, Lo, all it’s done is poison you against me.”

“That’s not—” she started, but I cut her off.

“You told me you needed to find yourself. Yet, here you are; a girl I barely recognize. The Lo I know wouldn’t get jealous over a few parties. She wouldn’t sit at home questioning her boyfriend’s every move. Because the Lo I know, knows how much he loves her. She was right there when he went against everyone for her. We were a team once, Lo. What the hell is happening to us?”

Her body shook with emotion.

Fear.

Anger.

Regret.

Her eyes told a story I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear. But I’d stood back and waited. Given her the time and space she asked for... and for what? To watch my girlfriend—the one person I loved more than anything—turn against me.

Turn against us.

Well, I was done sitting on the sidelines. If Lo wasn’t going to fight for us, then I would. Because I refused to stand by and watch her throw away the last year of our lives all because her head wasn’t straight.

I closed the distance between us, hooking an arm around her waist and pulling her toward me. She wanted to run. I felt it in her resistance. But we weren’t done, not by a long shot.

“You’re shaking,” I whispered, and she clamped her eyes shut. “London,” it came out a soft growl. “Look at me.”

“I...” Her lips mashed together, and she shook her head.

My stubborn, scared girl was shutting down. I’d thought backing off was the right thing to do, honoring her request for space. But it was a mistake. Being left alone with her thoughts, her doubts, had only made things worse. Lo needed me to push her, to challenge her. She called it using me as a crutch, I called it loving someone. She was so desperate to fix herself, but Lo didn’t need fixing. Instead she needed to accept the new version of herself, flaws and all. She needed to realize that it was okay to lean on people.

To lean on me.

Me, most of all.

“Lo, please look at me.”

She lifted her head, blinking at me. “Hi,” I said thumbing her cheek.

“Hi,” her voice shook. “I don’t know what’s going on with me, Maverick. Liam said his friend saw you with a girl, and I saw red. I just kept thinking it was happening, and I didn’t know what to do.”

So she sent a text message and then went dark. It wasn’t until I stopped to think where she might go, I realized where to find her.

“What did you think was happening?”

“I thought...” she let out a heavy sigh. “I thought I was losing you.”

Fuck. I was right.

All this time she had been waiting to lose me.

It was fucked up, and I didn’t want to believe it, but part of me had wondered if this whole thing was her way of pushing me away. To protect herself.

To save herself even more heartache.

“Eloise Stone, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this, but you are not going to lose me. I went to college because that’s what people do. They graduate high school and go to college. And I love basketball. Before you came into my life, it was my whole life.”

She blanched, and for the first time in my life I resented the game that had given me so much.

“The choice was never basketball or you, Lo. We talked about this.”

“I- I know.”

Jesus. Who was this girl standing in front of me?

My Lo was a fighter. She didn’t take shit from anyone and she certainly didn’t cower in the face of adversity. But I also knew how easy it was to hide behind the masks we wore.

And no one wore their mask better than Lo.

“Tell me you know it. I want to hear you say it.”

“Maverick, I’m not—”

I gave her a pointed look. “Say it. I need to hear you say it.”

“I am not going to lose you.”

“There was no other girl. Do girls sniff around me? Yeah, it’s college. But am I interested? No. And that’s what I tell them. Every. Single. Time. Everyone knows I have a girlfriend. I talk about you all the time. In fact, I’m pretty sure Darnell and Jamie are sick of hearing about you.”

The corner of her mouth lifted. “Yeah?”

“Yes. Now can we please stop with the crazy? It’s been a long few weeks, and I’d really like to make out with my girlfriend.”

“Even though she’s losing her mind?” Lo said the words around a smile but I saw the hesitation in her eyes.

“Even then.” I dipped my head, sealing my mouth over hers, showing her she was the only girl I wanted.

~

“I DON’T WANT TO START another fight,” Lo said after our breathing returned to normal. She rolled over, leaning across my chest, her hair falling around her tits like a waterfall.

“But...” I arched my brow, plucking a strand of her hair and pulling gently.

“I don’t get it. Why would Liam tell me that?”

“I don’t have an answer for that,” I said, my mind preoccupied with all the ways I could hurt this Liam kid.

“It doesn’t make any sense.” Her brows knitted together, and I reached out, stroking her face.

“Well either he’s lying, or his friend is, because I swear on Sum—”

“You don’t need to do that,” Lo sighed. “Deep down, I knew you weren’t capable of cheating on me. I think... maybe I wanted to pick a fight.” Her head dropped, but I wasn’t letting her off that easy.

Sliding my fingers underneath her jaw, I coaxed Lo back to me. “Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that?”

“I said, I think I wanted to pick a fight.”

“Because you wanted to push me away?”

Guilt flared in her cheeks. “It’s crazy, right? Tell me I’m crazy. Tell me this whole thing is because I’m losing my goddamn mind.”

“Do you want to know what I think?” My hand slid into her hair, curving around her neck, and she nodded. “I think we had an amazing summer. The shit with my dad was behind us. Caitlin was gone. Apart from Kyle and Laurie and their drama, we were good. Then your dad moved Stella into your house and I left, and everything changed again. You tried to tell yourself things were okay, that you were okay, but you weren’t.”

Lo’s lips parted, but I rolled my thumb over them. “I’m not done.”

She swallowed hard, gazing at me as if I held the answers to the Universe. “You love me, Lo. I don’t doubt that. But you also loved your mom and brother and they died. They left you. Then your dad, the one person you had left in the world, betrayed you. Betrayed your mom. But I am not your dad. Not even close. I might keep things from you and tell the odd white lie to protect you, but I would never ever betray you. But it doesn’t matter how much I tell you, you have to believe it. I don’t want to fix you, or save you, or change you, London. I just want to love you.”

Lo crawled up my body until we were pressed together. Skin on skin. Scars on scars. “Rick, I’m sorry,” she whispered against the corner of my mouth. “I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t need your apologies, Lo. I just need you.”

A knock on the door pulled us both from the moment.

“Is it safe to come in?” Kyle’s voice floated into the room.

“No, get out.”

“Maverick.” Lo pinched my side. “He’s probably worried.”

“Damn right, I’m worried,” Kyle yelled back. “Thanks for the heads up, Prince.”

“I was kind of busy.” I pressed a kiss to Lo’s head before climbing out of bed and pulling on my jeans.

“Well stop hogging my cousin and get out here.”

I glanced back at Lo. Her eyes were brighter, and she looked like my Lo. But I was still worried. “Shall we put him out of his misery, or make him wait?”

She flashed me a smile and climbed out of bed, pulling on her own clothes. When we were both dressed, we walked out into the living area, hand-in-hand.

“So I’ve been searching all over town for you and you two have been... Seriously, Cous, a phone call wouldn’t have gone amiss.”

“I’m sorry.” Her voice cracked, and I shot him a hard look. The last thing we needed was Lo retreating into herself again. That’s what landed us in this mess in the first place.

“So,”—Kyle dived onto the couch—“Is someone going to tell me what happened?”

“It’s late. Can’t we talk about this—”

I wanted to agree with Lo, but Kyle had a point. He’d been worried too. I knew he felt a special sense of responsibility for Lo since I was gone.

“He deserves to know,” I said, squeezing her hand gently.

“I thought...”

She choked on the words, so I jumped in. “Some fucker at Lo’s work told her his friend saw me with a girl at a party. Lo believed him, sent me that text, and came here.”

“I did not believe him.”

“You kind of did.” I gave her a pointed look, hooking my arm around her shoulder and pulling her into my side. “But that’s okay, I get it.”

“Who are you and what have you done to Prince?” Kyle chimed in.

“Stone,” I warned, and Lo let out an exasperated breath.

“Some things never change,” she said around an uncertain smile.

“We’re family,” Kyle declared. “You should know that by now, Cous. Like it or not, you’re kind of stuck with us.”

Lo shrugged. “It’s not such a bad place to be.”

It wasn’t exactly a declaration of her love for me. But I’d take it. If it meant Lo by my side, I’d grab on with both hands and hold tight.